From Our CEO: Welcoming back a familiar face

​The new year brings new leadership for the JCC. After two and half years of exemplary service, Solomon Chemo stepped down as Board President at the end of 2020. We are grateful for his work leading the Board through these difficult times and are also excited to welcome back a familiar face to lead the JCC Board of Directors.
 
Our new Board President is Susan Sappin, who previously served as Board President from 2011-2014. Sue is the first person in our 91-year history to ever serve as President twice, and we are thrilled to have her return to the position.
 
A native of Brooklyn, Sue moved with her husband David to Staten Island almost 40 years ago. The Sappins soon joined Temple Israel Reform Congregation of Staten Island, where she eventually became President of the Congregation. Through her connections at Temple Israel, Sue was introduced to life at the JCC. Over time, Sue joined the Board of the JCC, where she has served as Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and President.
 
During her first term as President, Sue oversaw many positive changes to our JCC. She played a major role when we restructured our mortgage to reduce debt during the recession—a move that helped us keep our doors open and stabilized our agency financially. Her work led to an expansion of our Early Childhood and First Foot Forward programs, as well as the creation of the Center for Life Long Development (CLLD) for seniors. During her tenure, we installed solar panels in the Bernikow Building, which was instrumental in making our agency greener.
 
When tragedy struck during Hurricane Sandy, Sue’s leadership helped us create a continuum of recovery services for those in need. That version of Connect to Recovery served as the model we continue to use today to help those hurt by the pandemic.
 
Perhaps Sue’s greatest accomplishment is cultivating and expanding the JCC’s reach. Her kindness, passion, and giving spirit made her a natural fit to attract people to join the Board of Directors and get more involved with our JCC. During her first Presidency, she advocated for expanding the demographics of our Board to include people of different faiths. She is also directly responsible for convincing Gail Castellano, now a Past Board President, to join. In addition to getting local people involved with the JCC, Sue also fostered a global partnership with the Israeli city of Pisgat Ze’ev, which became our Sister City.
 
Additionally, Sue is active with UJA-Federation, our partner organization. For more than twenty years, Sue has chaired the UJA Community Breakfast, a cause dear to her. She has served as a liaison to UJA, strengthening their connection with our agency and Staten Island as a whole. 
 
Sue has received several awards for her work in the community, including the First Generation Award at our Nancy Avis L’Dor V’Dor Awards Lunch in 2014.
 
Sue is the mother of three adult children, Elizabeth, Jennifer, and Edward, and the grandmother of ten. She and her husband David were married for nearly 50 years before he passed away four years ago.
 
Upon being inducted as president, she told us, “I fell in love with the JCC and the important work we continue to do for the Staten Island community. Serving as president for the second time is just as exciting and inspiring, and I hope others will follow me to continue to build our legacy into the future.”
 
Based on her work the first time around, we knew she was the right person to lead us through these turbulent times. We are lucky and grateful to have Sue step up to the plate once again!

​-Orit Lender, CEO

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